Fischer-Tropsch technology has long offered alternative production routes to synthetic fuels, but has struggled to make a use case outside of some niche applications. Could the greening of the chemical industry offer another way forward for the technology?
Maersk has ordered six more 17,000 teu (twenty-foot equivalent unit) container ships capable of running on methanol from Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI). The order brings Maersk’s total order book of dual-fuel vessels capable of running on methanol to 19. Maersk said the new ships will replace existing tonnage in its fleet when they’re delivered in 2025. When all 19 vessels on order join the fleet and replace older tonnage, CO2 savings will be around 2.3 million t/a, according to Maersk. Maersk has committed itself to renewable methanol as a pathway to zero emissions shipping. Its first vessels are due for delivery from Q1 2024. The company has also signed several green methanol fuel supply agreements and joined a partnership to create the first e-methanol plant in Southeast Asia. Maersk is also working with Japanese trading house Mitsui and the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), to jointly conduct a detailed feasibility study of methanol bunkering logistics in Singapore.
Maire Tecnimont subsidiary MyRechemical has been awarded a basic engineering contract for a waste to methanol and hydrogen plant to be located in Empoli, Tuscany. The scope of work includes the basic engineering design of the plant and the provision of necessary documentation to start the plant’s public authorisation process with the Tuscany region. The basic engineering phase is expected to be completed by the end of 2022. Once completed, the plant will process 256,000 t/a of non-recyclable waste and will produce 125,000 t/a of methanol and 1,400 t/a of hydrogen. The plant will use MyRechemical’s chemical conversion technology which allows the recovery of waste that cannot be mechanically recycled, or other types of unsortable dry waste. The carbon and hydrogen in the waste are converted via gasification into synthesis gas, which is used to produce low-carbon methanol and hydrogen.
Overall the market finds itself in a period of illiquidity, and is exposed to further uncertainty in 4Q because of the European energy crisis. Spiralling natural gas costs in Europe, with Dutch TTF gas prices trading around e200/MWh, are forcing European fertilizer producers to close ammonia capacity and buy in from overseas.
Temperature dependent rate constants for the hydrolysis of CS2 and COS across Claus Al2 O3 and TiO2 catalysts are valuable tools for the design and optimisation of new, as well as existing, sulphur recovery units. In this context, Alberta Sulphur Research Ltd (ASRL) has measured CS2 and COS hydrolysis rates over a range of temperatures for both Al2 O3 and TiO2 catalysts under start-of-run and, more recently, end-of-run first converter conditions. In this article Christopher Lavery, Dao Li, Ruohong Sui, and Robert A. Marriott of ASRL report on their methodology and the utility of the kinetics calculated from their data and draw comparisons between the start-of-run and end-of-run results.
On February 27th, in a speech to the Bundestag, Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz described the events then unfolding as a “zeitenwende” – a historical turning point. He was speaking of German foreign and security policy, but it seems likely that Russia’s February 24th invasion of Ukraine may end up marking a break with the past in many different ways. Last issue’s Editorial was written when Russia’s ‘special military operation’ was still only a few days old, and the situation was still very fluid. Two months on, and for all of the uncertainties remaining, some glimpses of the way that things are changing are becoming clearer.
Yara and Mosaic shocked markets with a settlement of $1,625/t c.fr for April, up $490/t on March, and the highest ever price recorded at Tampa, as the removal of Russian and Ukrainian ammonia supply impacted global prices, and Baltic rates soared to $1,500/t. However, April saw some of the global dislocations caused by the Russian conflict begin to ease, while the high prices saw buyers in the US delay purchases, leading to the Tampa price falling back $200/t for May loadings.
The ammonia market, already seeing record pricing in the wake of the winter’s gas price squeeze, is braced for even higher pricing in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The impact upon gas prices has been most marked, with rates of over $65/MMBtu seen in European forward pricing as the threat of a cessation of Russian gas exports loomed. This will undoubtedly lead to widespread idling of ammonia capacity in Europe.
INEOS says that it is aiming to forward its plans for a ‘net zero’ future for its Grangemouth site in Scotland by inviting major engineering design contractors to tender for the next stage of the design of a world scale carbon capture enabled hydrogen plant and associated infrastructure.
The CRU Nitrogen + Syngas Conference returns to Berlin for a live event from 28-30 March 2022. The conference will be run as a hybrid event giving participants the option to attend live in-person or online via the virtual platform.